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Walton Hall, Milton Keynes
Walton Hall is a district in Milton Keynes, in the English county of Buckinghamshire, and is the location of the campus and offices of The Open University. The university campus covers 48 hectares and the first buildings were designed by Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew in 1969. It is in the ancient ecclesiastic and modern civil parish of Walton. The manor house (Walton Hall) that gives the district its name and the ancient parish church of St Michael, now deconsecrated, are in the university's grounds. The village farm-lands are divided between Walton Hall, the modern Walton, Kents Hill and Walnut Tree. The manor house itself, built in 1830 in the Regency style for the Pinfold family, is home to the vice-chancellor's offices of the Open University. Walton Hall is on the banks of the Ouzel, a tributary of the Great Ouse where Walton Lake, a disused balancing lake, has become naturalised and is home to reeds, bulrushes, reed warbler, reed bunting, water rail, sparrowhawk, kestrel, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walton Hall
Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada *Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingdom * Walton, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire *Walton, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, a hamlet *Walton, Peterborough, a residential area and electoral ward of the city of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire * Walton, Cheshire, a village and civil parish *Walton, Cumbria, a village and civil parish *Walton, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a suburb of Chesterfield *Walton-on-Trent, South Derbyshire, Derbyshire *Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex, a seafront town informally called "Walton" * Walton, Leicestershire, a village * Walton, Leeds, a village and civil parish *Walton, Liverpool, an area of Liverpool *Walton Street, London *East Walton, Norfolk *West Walton, Norfolk *Walton, North East Derbyshire, a village in the civil parish of Holymoorside and Walton *Walton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vice-chancellor
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor is usually a ceremonial non-resident head of the university. In such institutions, the chief executive of a university is the vice-chancellor, who may carry an additional title such as ''president'' (e.g. "president & vice-chancellor"). The chancellor may serve as chairperson of the governing body; if not, this duty is often held by a chairperson who may be known as a pro-chancellor. In many countries, the administrative and educational head of the university is known as the president, principal (academia), principal or rector (academia), rector. In the United States, the head of a university is most commonly a university president. In U.S., university systems that have more than one affiliated university or campus, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odonata
Odonata is an order of flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies. Members of the group first appeared during the Triassic, though members of their total group, Odonatoptera, first appeared in Late Carboniferous. The two common groups are distinguished with dragonflies, placed in the suborder Epiprocta, usually being larger, with eyes together and wings up or out at rest, while damselflies, suborder Zygoptera, are usually smaller with eyes placed apart and wings along body at rest. All Odonata have aquatic larvae called naiads (nymphs), and all of them, larvae and adults, are carnivorous. The adults can land, but rarely walk. Their legs are specialised for catching prey. They are almost entirely insectivorous. Etymology and terminology Fabricius coined the term ''Odonata'' in 1793 from the Ancient Greek ( Ionic form of ) 'tooth'. One hypothesis is that it was because their maxillae are notably toothed. Most insects also have toothed mandibles. The wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grass Snake
The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian non-venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecies are recognized, including: ''Natrix natrix helvetica'' ( Lacépède, 1789) was formerly treated as a subspecies, but following genetic analysis it was recognised in August 2017 as a separate species, ''Natrix helvetica'', the barred grass snake. Four other subspecies were transferred from ''N. natrix'' to ''N. helvetica'', becoming ''N. helvetica cettii'', ''N. helvetica corsa'', ''N. helvetica lanzai'' and ''N. helvetica sicula''. Description The grass snake is typically dark green or brown in colour with a characteristic yellow or whitish collar behind the head, which explains the alternative name ringed snake. The colour may also range from grey to black, with darker colours being more prevalent in colder regions, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Green Woodpecker
The European green woodpecker (''Picus viridis'') is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent in females. It is resident across much of Europe and the western Palearctic but in Spain and Portugal it is replaced by the similar Iberian green woodpecker (''Picus sharpei''). The European green woodpecker spends much of its time feeding on ants on the ground and does not often 'drum' on trees like other woodpecker species. Though its vivid green and red plumage is particularly striking, it is a shy bird, and is more often heard than seen, drawing attention with its loud calls. A nest hole is excavated in a tree; four to six eggs are laid which hatch after 19–20 days. Taxonomy The European green woodpecker was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under its current binomial name ''Picus viridis''. The type lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Kestrel
The common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus'') is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In the United Kingdom, where no other kestrel species commonly occurs, it is generally just called "kestrel". This species occurs over a large range. It is widespread in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as occasionally reaching the east coast of North America. It has colonized a few oceanic islands, but vagrant individuals are generally rare; in the whole of Micronesia for example, the species was only recorded twice each on Guam and Saipan in the Marianas. Description Common kestrels measure from head to tail, with a wingspan of . Females are noticeably larger, with the adult male weighing , around on average; the adult female weighs , around on average. They are thus small compared with other birds of prey, but larger than most songbirds. Like the other '' Fal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
The Eurasian sparrowhawk (''Accipiter nisus''), also known as the northern sparrowhawk or simply the sparrowhawk, is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Adult male Eurasian sparrowhawks have bluish grey upperparts and orange-barred underparts; females and juveniles are brown above with brown barring below. The female is up to 25% larger than the male – one of the greatest size differences between the sexes in any bird species. Though it is a predator which specialises in catching woodland birds, the Eurasian sparrowhawk can be found in any habitat and often hunts garden birds in towns and cities. Males tend to take smaller birds, including tits, finches, and sparrows; females catch primarily thrushes and starlings, but are capable of killing birds weighing or more. The Eurasian sparrowhawk is found throughout the temperate and subtropical parts of the Old World; while birds from the northern parts of the range migrate south for winter, their southern counterp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Rail
The water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this species is a permanent resident in the warmer parts of its breeding range. The adult is long, and, like other rails, has a body that is flattened laterally, allowing it easier passage through the reed beds it inhabits. It has mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, black barring on the flanks, long toes, a short tail and a long reddish bill. Immature birds are generally similar in appearance to the adults, but the blue-grey in the plumage is replaced by buff. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails. The former subspecies ''R. indicus'', has distinctive markings and a call that is very different from the pig-like squeal of the western races, and is now usually split as a separate species, the brown-cheeked rail. The water rail breeds in reed beds and other mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reed Bunting
The common reed bunting (''Emberiza schoeniclus'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. The genus name ''Emberiza'' is from Old German ''Embritz'', a bunting. The specific ''schoeniclus'' is from Ancient Greek ''skhoiniklos'', a now unknown waterside bird. It breeds across Europe and much of the Palearctic. Most birds migrate south in winter, but those in the milder south and west of the range are resident. It is common in reedbeds and also breeds in drier open areas such as moorland and cultivation. For example, it is a component of the purple moor grass and rush pastures, a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. Taxonomy The common reed bunting was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reed Warbler
The ''Acrocephalus'' warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Acrocephalus''. Formerly in the paraphyletic Old World warbler assemblage, they are now separated as the namesake of the marsh and tree warbler family Acrocephalidae. They are sometimes called marsh warblers or reed warblers, but this invites confusion with marsh warbler and reed warbler proper, especially in North America, where it is common to use lower case for bird species. These are rather drab brownish warblers usually associated with marshes or other wetlands. Some are streaked, others plain. Many species breeding in temperate regions are migratory. This genus has heavily diversified into many species throughout islands across the tropical Pacific. This in turn has led to many of the resulting insular endemic species to become endangered. Several of these species (including all but one of the species endemic to the Marianas and two endemic to French Polynesia) have already gon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Typha
''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in Australia as cumbungi or bulrush, in Canada as bulrush or cattail, and in New Zealand as raupo. Other taxa of plants may be known as bulrush, including some sedges in ''Scirpus'' and related genera. The genus is largely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, where it is found in a variety of wetland habitats. The rhizomes are edible. Evidence of preserved starch grains on grinding stones suggests they were already eaten in Europe 30,000 years ago. Description ''Typha'' are aquatic or semi-aquatic, rhizomatous, herbaceous perennial plants. The leaves are glabrous (hairless), linear, alternate and mostly basal on a simple, jointless stem that bears the flowering spikes. The plants are monoecious, with unisexual flowers that develop in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phragmites
''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial reed grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, maintained by Kew Garden in London, accepts the following four species: * ''Phragmites australis'' ( Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. – cosmopolitan * ''Phragmites japonicus'' Steud. – Japan, Korea, Ryukyu Islands, Russian Far East * ''Phragmites karka'' ( Retz.) Trin. ex Steud. – tropical Africa, southern Asia, Australia, some Pacific Islands, invasive in New Zealand * ''Phragmites mauritianus'' Kunth – central + southern Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius The cosmopolitan common reed has the generally accepted botanical name ''Phragmites australis''. (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. About 130 other synonyms have been proposed. Examples include ''Phragmites communis'' Trin., ''Arundo phragmites'' L., and ''Phragmites vulgaris'' (Lam.) Crép. (illegitimate name). Wildlife in reed beds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
